Homicide in , Ukraine, and 29 Alexandra V. Lysova, Nikolay G. Shchitov, and William Alex Pridemore

cal and economic stability in these nations over Introduction the last several years compared to the mid-1990s, homicide rates have not decreased as drastically This chapter discusses homicide in Russia, as they increased during that earlier period. Ukraine, and Belarus. Given its greater popula- Second, given the sweeping scale of socio- tion, geographic size, geopolitical presence, and economic and political change in the 1990s in more readily available data, we focus on Russia, Russia and Ukraine, and to a lesser extent though where possible we also provide informa- Belarus, these nations may serve as natural tion about Ukraine and Belarus. For a number of experiments for testing various sociological and reasons, these post-Soviet countries deserve spe- criminological theories, especially those related cial attention when considering homicide in to anomie, as potential explanations for the Europe. First, the social, economic, and political increase in homicide rates (Kim & Pridemore, turmoil experienced by many former Soviet 2005; Pridemore, Chamlin, & Cochran, 2007; countries following the collapse of the Soviet Pridemore & Kim, 2006). Recent research also Union was accompanied by a sharp rise in all- revealed several other factors that help to explain cause mortality. In particular, deaths from homi- the variation of homicide rates in these coun- cide increased sharply in many of these nations. tries, including specific historical conditions, In 2003, the Russian homicide rate of over hazardous alcohol consumption, social structural 21/100,000 residents annually (MVD RF, 2010) factors like poverty and family instability, and was the highest in Europe (World Health individual-level factors like education and mar- Organization, 2010a) and one of the highest in riage (Andrienko, 2001; Chervyakov, Shkolnikov, the world (Krug et al., 2002). Even though Pridemore, & McKee, 2002; Pridemore, 2002, Ukrainian and Belorussian homicide rates are 2004, 2005; Pridemore & Shkolnikov, 2004; lower than in Russia, they are still very high rela- Stickley & Pridemore, 2007). tive to other countries in the European Region Third, a few specific characteristics of homi- (6.46 and 8.53/100,000, respectively, in 2005) cide in these three nations require special con- (Tenth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends, sideration and explanation when compared to 2005–2006). Further, despite much greater politi- other European nations. These include the low proportion of homicides committed by firearms, the higher homicide rate in rural relative to A. Lysova ( ) urban areas, vast regional differences in homi- Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, cide rates (e.g., in Russia, regional homicide University of Toronto, 14 Queen’s Park Crescent West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3K9, Canada rates range from a low of around six per 100,000 e-mail: [email protected] in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria to over

M.C.A. Liem and W.A. Pridemore (eds.), Handbook of European Homicide Research: Patterns, Explanations, 451 and Country Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-0466-8_29, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 452 A.V. Lysova et al.

130/100,000 in the Republic of Tyva), and the three nations experienced swift, widespread, and changing nature of homicide in contemporary profound political, economic, and social change. Russia (Chervyakov et al., 2002; Pridemore, It was a time of emergence of new economic 2006a). and political philosophies and newfound indi- Finally, the legacy of the Soviet era – when vidual freedoms, as well as a period of disrup- crime data were strictly controlled and often fal- tion of formal social control and conventional sified when made public – and the ongoing lack social institutions and a time of multiple social of clear and transparent homicide reporting sys- problems, including high levels of poverty, tems in these countries, raise serious concerns unemployment, increasing inequality, and a mor- about the veracity of the official homicide statis- tality crisis (Kim & Pridemore, 2005; Walberg, tics (Pridemore, 2003a). Hence, the comparabil- McKee, Shkolnikov, Chenet, & Leon, 1998). ity of the two main sources of homicide estimates During the 1990s, there was growing economic in Russia, crime data from the Ministry of the polarization of the population, with an impover- Interior and mortality data from the vital statis- ished majority and a nouveau riche minority (the tics, registration system will be examined. “New Russians”) that is a source of continuing social conflict (Gilinskiy, 2005). According to official data, the ratio between the incomes of the Background bottom 10% and top 10% increased from 1:4.5 in 1991 to 1:15 in 1999. In the opinion of some Political Structure experts, the actual ratio between the incomes of the highest and lowest 10% is as high as 25 to 1 The Russian Federation (RF) came into existence in Russia (Human Development Report in the in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russian Federation 1999; Just and Unjust Ukraine became an independent state after a ref- Inequality in Contemporary Russia 2003) and 60 erendum on December 1, 1991. The Republic of to 1 in Moscow (Gilinskiy, 2005). Belarus’ Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1990. Each of these countries is a Presidential republic with executive, legislative, Population and judicial branches and, to varying degrees, democratic elections. There are, however, essen- The Russian Federation occupies one of the larg- tial differences in political climate between these est territories in the world, with over 17 million nations. Ukraine has had stronger democratic square kilometers. The population of these three tendencies over the last decade, demonstrated by former Soviet republics, including Russia, has intense political struggle between different politi- steadily declined since the early 1990s. The cal parties. The Russian Federation, on the other Russian Federation grew from 103 million resi- hand, has essentially turned to a “one party state” dents in 1951 to 149 million in 1991, then with one political party, , that declined to 139 by 2010, which translates to a enjoys the unabated support of the Prime Minister negative population growth rate of −0.47% annu- and that has consolidated enor- ally (CIA, 2010). The most rapid depopulation mous political power by suppressing its competi- has taken place in Ukraine, which had a popula- tors. While Belarus is formally a democratic tion of 45 million in 2010 and was experiencing presidential republic, it is in fact a “mild type” of a population growth rate −0.62%. Belarus has dictatorship with Alexander Lukashenko as dic- about ten million residents and a population tator (CIA, 2010). growth rate of −0.37% (CIA). After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the Among these three former Soviet countries, 1990s, there was a sweeping transition from a Russia has the most uneven population distribu- command economy toward a free-market democ- tion over its enormous territory. Russians pre- racy, during which the citizens of each of these dominantly (78% of the population) live in the 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 453

European part of the country (west of the Ural enforcement officers per 100,000 residents. Mountains), with less than one-quarter of the Despite such an inflated militia staff and growing population living in the vast Asiatic sector (west paramilitarization of the police, Russian citizens Siberia, east Siberia, and the Russian Far East). tend to express growing distrust toward the About 75% of the population of each of the three police, which has been exacerbated by a large nations lives in urban areas, and the sex ratio – number of killings by police officers (Levada 46% men and 54% women – is nearly the same in Center, 2004; Luneev, 2005). Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Alcohol Use Police Since heavy population drinking has been shown There are two branches of the executive power in to be strongly associated with cross-sectional and each of these three countries dealing with homi- temporal homicide rates in Russia (Pridemore, cide: the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD in 2002; Pridemore & Chamlin, 2006), we briefly Russian) and the office of the public prosecutor describe the main patterns and trends in alcohol (Prokuratura in Russian). The Criminal Militia consumption in Russia and also in Ukraine and Department of the MVD is in charge of register- Belarus. Alcohol-related harm is considered by ing and investigating homicides. In addition to many to be a national disaster in Russia (Denisova, supervising the execution of the law, the office of 2010a; Leon et al., 2007; Leon, Shkolnikov, & the public prosecutor in Russia, Ukraine, and McKee, 2009; Nemtsov, 2002; Pridemore, 2004; Belarus also investigates homicide on its own. Zaridze et al., 2009). Following artificially low This incongruous practice, left over from the levels of consumption during the anti-alcohol Soviet era, serves as one of the factors conducive campaign of the mid-1980s (officially 3.9 L per to the distortion and confusion of the crimino- person, with Nemtsov’s (2006) estimates of logical statistical data, including homicide 10.6 L per person), drinking increased following (Luneev, 2005: 301). the campaign, increased again during and after Due to the legacy of the Soviet era’s extended the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990s, police network on the one hand and the current and again at periods during the last decade. In paramilitarization of the police (Galeotti, 2010) 2008, annual consumption was estimated to be on the other, the already inflated staff of the MVD nearly 18 L of pure ethanol per person (Shuster, is constantly growing despite President 2009). Illegal alcohol, non-beverage alcohol sur- Medvedev’s call to decrease its size by 20% by rogates, and home-produced alcohol have made 2012. The number of MVD personnel in Russia up a substantial proportion of overall consump- is estimated at nearly 1.4 million, resulting in a tion for the last 20 years (Kalabekov, 2007; high ratio of one militia staffer for about every Kharchenko et al., 2005; McKee et al., 2005; 100 citizens (Galeotti). According to Galeotti’s Nemtsov, 2004; Tapilina, 2007; Zaigraev, 2009). (2010) estimates, however, the true officer-to- In spite of recent proportional increases in beer citizen ratio may be 1:267 for Russia (compare to consumption (Denisova, 2010b; Tapilina, 2007), 1:429 in the UK and 1:380 in the US) because of Russians still prefer distilled spirits, mainly the large number of bureaucrats, which may com- vodka, to wine and beer, and exhibit a pattern of prise nearly 870,000 of the overall number. heavy episodic binge drinking, both of which Belarus has the largest number of law enforce- likely increase alcohol-related harm (Leon et al., ment staff per capita among the post-Soviet 2007; Pridemore, 2002, 2006b). The age at which states, with about 1,400 militia members per Russians begin consuming alcohol has been 100,000 residents (Belarus Leading in Number of decreasing and the proportion of women who Militia Staff, 2010). According to the same sur- drink alcohol has been increasing (Tapilina, 2007; vey, Russia is ranked second with 976 law Zaigraev, 2009). There is a growing body of 454 A.V. Lysova et al. empirical evidence that reveals a strong association which is consistent with other countries in the between heavy drinking and wide variety of harm region, including Poland. in Russia, including family disruption, reduced economic productivity, alcohol dependence, alcoholic psychosis and poisoning, traffic acci- Sources of Homicide Data dents, assaults, criminal behavior, unintentional injury, and homicide and suicide. During the Soviet era, access to data on crime While Russian levels of consumption and and violence in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus was alcohol-related harm are exceptional relative heavily restricted. Raw data were simply unavail- to other European nations, some neighboring able to the public, and the information released nations share similar patterns. The average rate by authorities was notoriously elliptic and often of hard alcohol consumption is nine liters and falsified (Butler, 1992; Godek, 1998; Pridemore, above per person in Belarus and Ukraine. 2003b). Today, information on homicide is avail- Data on high rates of unregistered alcohol able from two main official sources in Russia, consumption (WHO, 2004) and alcohol poison- crime data and vital statistics data (Pridemore, ing (Levchuk, 2009; Stickley & Razvodovsky, 2003a). 2009) in these countries provide further proof Data about crime and homicide in Russia, of the similarities in alcohol consumption in Ukraine, and Belarus are available from the these former Soviet states. However, in com- police agencies (MVD) in each nation. These are parison to Russians, Ukrainians drink some- often provided in annual MVD publications and what less recorded alcohol, but consume more show rates for the various provinces, by weapon unrecorded alcohol (Global Status Report on type, under the influence of alcohol, etc. There Alcohol, 2004), though alcohol-related prob- are several serious concerns about the police data lems appear to be somewhat lower in Ukraine that likely result in a large underenumeration of relative to Russia when measured by the amount the true homicide rate (Chervyakov et al., 2002; of alcohol consumed and the consequences for Godek, 1998; Luneev, 2005; Pridemore, 2003a). population health (Levchuk, 2009). Still, while In his yearly speech in 2005 to Russian prosecu- these neighboring nations share similar alcohol- tors, General Prosecutor Vladimir Ustinov stated related problems, Russia stands out. The haz- that only about 25% of all decedents received an ardous drinking pattern scores developed by autopsy, and often a forensic physician is not Rehm et al. (2002), for example, show Russia called to the scene of an apparent homicide and Belarus with the highest scores. (Ustinov, 2005). Police officials have a vested interest in lower homicide rates, and Gilinskiy (2005) points out that since 1993–1994, there has Firearms been a massive cover-up that has prevented a large number of crimes from being officially Post-Soviet countries traditionally have very low recorded (see also Luneev, 1997). One piece of firearm availability and hence much lower gun evidence that points to this cover-up is the suspi- homicide rates and proportions of all homicides ciously high clearance rate. Further, some crimi- committed by guns (Pridemore, 2006a). For nological studies show that the ratio between the example, the percentage of intentional homicides actual and recorded number of assaultive crimes committed with a firearm in Ukraine and Belarus in 2002 was 1.17 for homicide and 1.18 for griev- was around 3.5 and 1.3% in 2005, respectively ous bodily harm (cited by Gilinskiy, 2005). (Tenth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends, Another concern about the specificity of the 2005–2006). In Russia, knives and other sharp police data on homicide in Russia comes from instruments are the most common weapons used the peculiar way it is registered by official police in homicides, with firearms being the primary agencies. The crime reporting system, for means of assault in fewer than 10% of cases, example, includes attempted homicides. Without 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 455 access to unpublished MVD data, there is no way up would result in the true homicide rate in to extract the number of attempts (Luneev, 2005; Russia being 4–5 times higher than the officially Pridemore, 2003b), though attempts appear to recorded rate. consist of between 5 and 10% of the overall num- An alternative source of information on homi- ber of homicides reported annually (Pridemore, cide is provided by vital statistics data. The vital 2005), with 9.1% in 2000 (Luneev, 2005: 419). In statistics reporting system includes legal inter- addition, intentional homicide of two or more ventions, executions, and justifiable homicides people in Russia is registered as one crime com- by civilians. Even in a well-functioning system, mitted under aggravated circumstances (Luneev, the crime rate as measured by victimization sur- 2005: 408). In other words, the crime reporting veys is three or four times as high as the recorded system in Russia registers events and not victims crime rate (Gilinskiy, 2005). Though data from (Luneev, 2005: 409). According to this, homicide population-level victimization surveys are not of tens or hundreds of people resulting from a available in Russia, medical statistics provided to bomb explosion would be recoded as one crime, the World Health Organization by the Russian as defined in paragraphs “a” and “e” of Part 2 of Ministry of Health support this assumption. The Article 105 of the Criminal Code (homicide of WHO and police recorded homicide rates for two or more people committed in the way dan- Russia in 1992 were 22.9 and 15.5/100,000 resi- gerous for the community). dents, respectively; in 1993, 30.4 and 19.6; in Another difference of defining and registering 1994, 32.3 and 21.8, in 2002, 30.8 and 22.5, in homicide in Russia relative to other countries is 2003, 29.5 and 22.1 (cited by Gilinskiy, 2005: how long after the violent act the death occurs. 272; see Pridemore 2003a, for a detailed com- For example, in the United States, a criminal parison of homicide estimates from the crime and homicide is defined as “any death caused by inju- vital statistics reporting systems). Vital statistics ries received in a fight, argument, quarrel, assault, data also contain error. For example, there may or commission of a crime is classified as Murder be accidental or purposeful misclassification of and Nonnegligent Manslaughter (1a)” (Uniform cause of death, especially when human, medical, Crime Reporting Handbook, 2004: 15). This is and monetary resources are limited (Pridemore). not the case in Russia. If the person died not dur- But despite some inevitable flaws of the vital sta- ing the attack but later, the event would be regis- tistics, the mortality system still reports many tered as intentional grievous bodily harm leading more homicides in the country than the crime to death (Part 4 Article 111 of the Criminal Code) system. and would not be included in the homicide cate- gory. Nearly 70,000 intentional grievous bodily harm crimes are annually registered in Russia, Patterns of Homicide about one-third of which end with the death of the victim and are not registered as an intentional In the early twenty-first century, the Russian homicide (Luneev, 2005: 409). In addition, homicide rate was the highest in Europe and one 25,000 people are declared missing every year, of the highest in the world (Krug et al., 2002; and a nearly comparable number of unidentifi- World Health Organization, 2010a, 2010b). able corpses are discovered every year. In the However, the homicide rate had varied greatly military, from 5,000 to 6,000 die every year, during the most of the twentieth century. The excluding those involved in warfare. Many of mean regional homicide victimization rate during these decedents die due to accidents related to 1909–1911 in the 50 provinces of “European” military service, suicide, and violent unregulated Russia was 7.9/100,000 residents. There was hazing rituals (dedovshina) and abuse of power considerable variation during this period, with by older soldiers that often takes sadistic forms the rate ranging from a low of 3.2 in the province (Gilinskiy, 2005; Spivak & Pridemore, 2004). of Courland (in the Baltic region) to a high of Luneev (2005: 409) estimates that adding all this 18.6 in Novgorod Oblast (see Stickley & 456 A.V. Lysova et al.

25

20

15

10

5

0 Rate of homicide including attempts per 100,000 people 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

Fig. 29.1 Police-recorded homicide (including attempts) USSR (1965–1984) come from Luneev (2005: 413–414) rate per 100,000 residents in the USSR (1956–1984) and and for Russia (1985–2005) from Gilinskiy (2006), 2006– the Russian Federation (1985–2009). Source: Data for the 2009 (MVD, Official site, 2010)

Pridemore, 2007). The overall rate of about and that continued over to the Communist period 8/100,000 resident at that time was very similar (Stickley & Mäkinen, 2005). Figure 29.1 shows to recent estimates of the US homicide rate that the homicide rate (including attempts) grew around 1910 (Eckberg, 1995). At the beginning considerably during the transition period after of the 1930s, the Soviet authorities for different 1987 and reached its peak at 22 police-recorded reasons decided to withhold all statistical infor- homicides per 100,000 population in 1994, and mation relating to crime and “unacceptable” then again peaked at 23 in 2001. There is a nota- causes of death including homicide (Godek, ble decline in the police-recorded homicide rate 1998; McKee & Leon, 1994; Stickley & from 19 in 2006 to 13 in 2009, which some Pridemore, 2007), and hence patterns, trends, and Russian criminologists consider as an artificial rates of homicide in Russia remained hidden for tampering with the statistical data (Gilinskiy, the most of the twentieth century. Political 2005; Luneev, 2005). For example, professor and changes at the end of 1980s resulted in the even- former colonel of militia Babaev has openly tual release of criminal justice and vital statistics stated that he does not believe any number pub- data on homicide (Gilinskiy, 2005; Luneev, 2005; lished officially by the MVD, calling crime statis- Pridemore, 2003a). tics in Russia an unscrupulous lie (Babaev versus In the post-WWII period until “perestroika” in Veller, 2009). He argues that there is no possible 1987, the rate of police-recorded homicide fluc- realistic explanation for such an unprecedented tuated between 5 and 8 homicides per 100,000 decline in homicide rate, and at the same time he residents (Pridemore, 2003b), which was compa- points out the rise in the number of the unidentified rable to the corresponding level in the US for the bodies (Babaev versus Veller, 2009). Moreover, same period (Fox & Zawitz, 2003) and well there was an unofficial instruction from above to exceeded the homicide rate in the developed register homicide (article 105 Criminal Code of European countries (Eisner, 2001). Earlier data RF) only if the person dies at the crime scene. In suggest that the high homicide rates observed in all other cases (e.g., the victim died later in the the post-war period may have been the continua- hospital), the event is to be registered as heavy tion of a relatively high rate that was in existence injuries leading to death (article 111, part 4) and at the end of the nineteenth century (Eisner, 2003) hence not included in the official homicide statistics 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 457

40 35 30 opulation 25 20 15 10 5

Rate per 100,000 p 0

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

Homicide (including attempts) rate (police reports) Mortality rate for homicide and injury (vital statistics)

Fig. 29.2 Police-recorded homicide rate (including 1980–2009. Source: Police-recorded data are from Luneev attempts) per 100,000 residents (police reports) and mor- (2005) for 1980–1984, Gilinskiy (2006) for 1985–2005, tality rate per 100,000 residents for homicide and injury MVD RF (2010) for 2006–2009. Vital statistics data are purposely inflicted by other persons (vital statistics) for from WHO (2010b)

data (Gilinskiy, personal communication with the mortality database, 2010a), the male homicide first author, May 6, 2010). rate was significantly higher than the female rate Given the differences between crime data and with a male–female rate ratio of 2.8 in 1980 vital statistics data for homicide considered increasing to 3.7 in 1994 and then slightly above, Fig. 29.2 provides available data on decreasing to 3.5 by 2006. Figure 29.3 shows that police-recorded data and mortality data for homi- the male mortality rate for homicide and inten- cide and injuries for the period 1956–2009. As tional injury increased about 70% (from 19.6 to we can see, the trends in both police-recorded 32.8/100,000 of population) in Russia from 1980 homicide and vital statistics mortality seem to to 2006, while the female rate increased about follow each other (sharp increase from 1992 with 30% (from 7.1 to 9.4/1,000,000 of population) its peak in 1994 and then a new rise after the eco- from 1980 to 2006. It can also be seen that the nomic crisis in 1998 with the peak in 2001–2002), apex for male and female mortality rate for homi- though homicide estimates from the mortality cide and intentional injury was reached in 1994, data significantly exceed those from the crime with rates of 53 and 15 deaths per 100,000 popu- data for the same years. In their analysis of chang- lation, respectively, confirming that males and ing homicide rates in Russia, Pridemore and Kim females have undergone different mortality expe- (2007) found that the mean change in regional riences, with males increasingly over-represented (i.e., provincial) homicide rates between 1991 in death (Godek, 1998; Leon et al., 2007; Men, and 2000 was an increase of about 14 homicides Brennan, Boffetta, & Zaridze, 2003; Notzon per 100,000 persons, or an average increase of et al., 1998; Pridemore, 2003b; Shkolnikov, nearly 100% over 1991 rates. Of the 78 regions in McKee, & Leon, 2001; Watson, 1995). their analysis, all but one experienced an increase In recent years, Belarus and Ukraine experi- in homicide rates between 1991 and 2000 (the enced a similar pattern of changes in homicide rate in the Kursk Oblast decreased by less than 1 rate to that seen in Russia and other countries in homicide per 100,000 persons). the European part of the former Soviet Union As for the gender differences in the rates of such as the Baltic States: a rapid rise in the homicide in Russia (victimization rate provided period 1990–1995, after which their rates stabi- by vital statistics data for 1980–2006) (WHO lized and then fell. However, even after this fall, 458 A.V. Lysova et al.

60 n o i t 50 Male Female a l u p

o 40 p 0 0

0 30 , 0 0

1 20 r e p

e 10 t a R 0

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Fig. 29.3 Sex-specific mortality rate per 100,000 residents for homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons in Russia, 1980–2006. Source: WHO (2010b)

40 n o i 35 t a l

u 30 p o

p 25 0 0

0 20 , 0

0 15 1 r

e 10 p e t 5 a R 0

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Russia Belarus Ukraine

Fig. 29.4 Mortality rate per 100,000 residents for homicide and injury purposely inflicted by other persons in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, 1980–2006. Source: WHO (2010b) the police-recorded homicide rate in Belarus ratio of 2.4 with Ukraine and 3.1 with Belarus in in 2005 (8.4/100,000 residents) was still 19% 1994 (World Health Organization, 2010b). above its 1990 level and over seven times As with Russia and other nations, the victims higher than the rate in the European Union of homicide and intentional injuries leading to (Tenth United Nations Survey, 2005–2006). death in Belarus and Ukraine are most often Even though the Ukranian homicide rate, at males, though the gender gap in homicide victim- 6.5/100,000 in 2005, is lower than that in ization rates is lower in Belarus and Ukraine than Belarus, it is still much higher than the rate in in Russia. For example, in 1994, the male–female the European Union (Tenth United Nations rate ratio was 3.2 in Ukraine, 2.8 in Belarus, and Survey). Comparing the mortality rates for 3.7 in Russia. homicide and intentional injury in Russia, One of the conspicuous characteristics of Belarus, and Ukraine, Fig. 29.4 shows that homicide in Russia (as well as in Ukraine and Russia stands out with a homicide mortality rate Belarus) is the higher homicide rate in rural 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 459 relative to urban areas (Chervyakov et al., 2002; undertook a comparative analysis of solved and Iliashenko, 2003a; Pridemore, 2003b; Stickley, unsolved homicides in Moscow. They found that Leinsalu, & Razvodovsky, 2007). This may be cleared homicides took place mainly between indicative of the differential development of relatives and acquaintances in the apartment or urban centers in Russia (as well as Belarus and flat of the victim or the offender. The leading Ukraine) and other European countries, including motives were arguments, revenge, and fights in the U.S. For example, in the United States, urban 40% of homicides, jealousy in 7%, and other neighborhoods became increasingly segmented emotional reasons in 30–35%. Profit was the along racial and class lines, resulting in ghettos motive in about 10–15% of homicides. Females characterized by racial segregation, concentrated were victims in every third homicide and the disadvantage, and high crime rates (Wilson, 1987, weapon of choice was mostly a knife. In unsolved 1996). In Russia, on the other hand, urbanization homicides, on the other hand, the event mostly did not occur on a large scale until well into the took place in the doorways, stairwells, and court- twentieth century, and Soviet economic and yards of apartment buildings. Most of the victims migration policies created an urban landscape were males (85%) with a university education that was more egalitarian and that lacked areas of (8 times greater than for cleared homicides), and concentrated disadvantage (Pridemore & Kim, 31% were private businessmen (18 times greater 2007). The increase in homicide rates for both than solved homicides). Every fourth homicide sexes amongst nearly all age groups in rural areas was committed with the firearm (5 times more compared to urban areas during the transition solved homicides) with a profit motive in 38% of may be also ascribed to the impoverishment of cases, profit revenge in 14%, and to hide another the countryside after 1995, depopulation, rising crime (7%) (Alimov & Antonov-Romanovskiy). alcohol abuse, and deteriorating health care in Based on a set of detailed narratives contain- rural regions (Stickley et al., 2007). ing extensive information about homicide events Another curious feature is the regional distri- in the Udmurt Republic, Pridemore and Eckhardt bution of homicide rates in Russia and Ukraine, (2008) found systematic differences between where there is a general increase from West to homicides in which alcohol was involved and East (Andrienko, 2001; Men et al., 2003; absent and provided an alcohol-based typology Pridemore, 2003b; Statistics of death and trauma of homicide. Alcohol-related homicides were in Ukraine in 2007–2008, 2009). Moreover, significantly more likely to occur overnight, on regional homicide rates in Russia vary tremen- weekends, and to result from acute arguments, dously, ranging from a low of 7/100,000 in and they were significantly less likely to occur Kabardino-Balkaria to a high of 135 in Tyva between strangers, to be profit motivated or pre- (Antonov-Romanovskiy, 2000). meditated, and to be carried out to hide other crimes. However, no significant differences between the drinking and nondrinking samples Incident Characteristics of Homicide were found for victim’s gender, primary weapon used, or event location. When discussing victim, offender, and event characteristics of homicide in Russia, we must keep in mind our earlier discussion of police Victim–Offender Relationship data and note that incident characteristics are and Dynamics of Violence much determined by whether the offender was found (Alimov & Antonov-Romanovskiy, 2000; In a large majority of all homicides, victim and Pridemore & Eckhardt, 2008). For example, there offender were intimately related to each other or are conspicuous differences in victim charac- were acquaintances. Among local inhabitants of teristics in cleared relative to unsolved homi- Moscow, in 51% of homicides, offenders and cides. Alimov and Antonov-Romanovskiy (2000) victims were acquaintances and in 26% they were 460 A.V. Lysova et al. relatives (Gorbatovskaya & Matveeva, 2000). Weapon Use Based on data from the Udmurt Republic in Russia, offender and victim were related in 52% It was not until 1999, when detailed ICD-10 of homicides (Pridemore & Eckhardt, 2008). This codes were included in individual death records raises the issue of intimate partner and family in many regions of the Russian Federation, that violence in Russia, which is very high but unfor- researchers had an opportunity to look at the dis- tunately has not been recognized widely as a seri- tribution of homicide victims by means of assault ous problem in the country (Ivanov & Andreeva, on a large scale. The most common weapon used 1998; Lysova & Douglas, 2008), though the in homicides in Russia is a knife, with firearms dynamics of violence often leading to homicide being the primary means of assault in fewer than among relatives, cohabitants, and acquaintances 10% of cases (Iliashenko, 2003a; Pridemore & in Russia has been previously investigated by Eckhardt, 2008). In a small-scale study in one Russian and foreign criminologists and sociolo- region, for example, Chervyakov et al. (2002) gists (Iliashenko, 2003a, 2003b; Lysova & found that among the 215 homicide deaths offi- Shchitov, 2010; Pridemore & Eckhardt, 2008; cially registered in the first half of the year 1999 Straus et al., 2007; Vannoy et al., 1999). for the Udmurt Republic, 45% were committed The typical family situation leading to homi- with the use of a sharp object, 25% were commit- cide in Russia looks as follows. Usually, the vio- ted by unspecified means, 14% by a blunt object, lent argument starts when family members are 7% by strangulation, and only 5% by firearms. home from work: between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Drinking offenders as well as family offenders (Iliashenko, 2003a; Pridemore & Eckhardt, are more likely to use sharp objects and less likely 2008), during the weekend (mostly on Fridays to choose strangulation than nondrinking offend- and Saturdays) (Pridemore, 2004) and holidays, ers (Pridemore, 2006a). when Russians usually consume a lot of alcohol (Iliashenko, 2003a, 2003b; Pridemore, 2004; Razvodovsky, 2007; Stickley & Pridemore, The Role of Alcohol 2007). Violent arguments leading to injures and deaths often involve some level of victim pre- In about 46% of homicide deaths in Russia, the cipitation (Pridemore & Eckhardt, 2008). In their perpetrator, the victim, or both are under the influ- study of violence in Russian families, for exam- ence of alcohol at the time of the homicide event ple, Vannoy et al. (1999) found that when women (Godek, 1998). Alcohol intoxication at the time report their victimization experiences, they also of the offence is considered an additional aggra- often report their own use of intimate partner vio- vating circumstance in Russia, Ukraine, and lence in their relationships. For example, among Belarus. In Russia, the percentage of those con- the married/cohabiting women, 14% threw some- victed of homicide who were reported (accord- thing at their male partners, 22% shoved or ing to data from police investigations) to have pushed him, 17% slapped or struck him, and 6% been intoxicated at the time of the offence beat him, and among the divorced women, 19% declined between 1990 and 1998–1999 from threw something at their former husbands, 22% about 80% to about 70% (Nemtsov, as cited in shoved or pushed him, 23% slapped or struck Chervyakov et al., 2002). In the Udmurt Republic him, and 12% beat him (Vannoy et al.). Other of Russia, offenders were drinking in about two- research has suggested that who is the victim and thirds of all homicide events, whereas the vic- who is the offender may change over the course tims were drinking in a little over 40% of of a violent interaction (Pridemore & Eckhardt, homicides. In 36% of the homicides, both the 2008). It may happen that the initial “offender,” offender and the victim were drinking at the time instigating an initial argument or aggression, may of the event, whereas in 31% of the cases, neither ultimately become the homicide victim, particu- offenders nor victims were drinking (Pridemore larly if the participants have been drinking. & Eckhardt, 2008). 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 461

In Belarus, 41% of offenders committing of grave and very grave crimes were female (MVD grave crimes and 22% of victims were under the Belarus, 2010). Russia and Belarus stand out in influence of alcohol (MVD Belarus, 2010). In terms of the age-specific homicide rates relative to homicides between family members, 20% of vic- other nations. The highest victimization rates in tims (most of whom are women) were intoxicated Russia and Belarus are found among 35- to 44- (MVD Belarus, 2010). and 45- to 54-year-old age groups (MVD Belarus, In Ukraine, both males and females experi- 2010; Pridemore, 2003b). This different pattern is enced worsening alcohol-related homicide rates even more marked for females, where women between 1965 and 1983, and then again between aged 45–54 have the highest victimization rates 1986 and 1994 (Godek, 1998). For example, from (Pridemore). Finally, Pridemore and Shkolnikov 1986 to 1994, alcohol-related homicide rates (2004) found both marriage and education to be increased more than fourfold for males and 2.75 significant protective factors against homicide times for females. As for the homicide’s contri- victimization in Russia. bution to overall alcohol-related mortality, it also grew from 3% in 1960s to 6% by 1994 for males and from 3 to 8% for females (Godek). Offender Characteristics

Over 85% of offenders of Russian violent crimes, Other Incident Characteristics including homicide, are men (MVD RF, 2010). The proportion of all homicides committed by In Russia, the number of convicted homicide males in some Russian regions is even higher, offenders acting with the help of accomplices reaching 95% of all homicides (Pridemore & rose from 12% in 1990 to 21% in 1997, with 5% Eckhardt, 2008). At the same time, the number of murders leading to convictions shown to be of homicides committed by females in Russia committed by organized gangs (Chervyakov has been growing slightly, from 11% of homi- et al., 2002). The absolute number of offenders cides in 2002 to 13% in 2005 (VNII MVD of the convicted for murders with aggravating circum- RF, n.d.). stances in Russia more than doubled between Both homicide offenders and victims in Russia 1990 and 1997, while their proportion among all are markedly older than their counterparts in convictions for murder increased from 20 to 25% most other industrialized nations (Pridemore, during this same period (Chervyakov et al.). 2003b), and Belarus is similar to Russia in this regard (MVD Belarus, 2010). Most of those con- victed of homicide in Russia are between 30 and Victim Characteristics 39 years old, though the mean age of convicted homicide offenders fell by more than 10% Most of the victims of violent deaths are men: between 1990 and 1997, from 38.7 to 34.6 years 76% of male victims in all Russia in 1995 old (Nevretdinova, 2000). In spite of the decline, (Pridemore, 2003b). When females become vic- the average age of Russian homicide offenders is tims of homicide, from 30 to 50% of these homi- significantly higher than in the USA (Pridemore, cides take place in the family context (Ivanov 2003b). In the USA in 1997, more than 55% of & Andreeva, 1998). However, most of the homi- homicide offenders were under age 25, whereas cide victims in the family are males (65%) in Russia the equivalent proportion was only (Iliashenko, 2003b). In fact, the male homicide half of this (27%). In addition, those convicted victimization rate in a family context increased of homicide in Russia were older, on average, from 1970s to the end of the 1990s (Shestakov, than those convicted for all crimes together 2003: 35). In Ukraine, females comprised 25% of (Chervyakov et al., 2002). all homicide victims in 2008 and 28% in 2009 One plausible explanation of the higher homi- (MVD Ukraine, 2010). In Belarus, 34% of victims cide rate among older people may be their greater 462 A.V. Lysova et al. involvement in family life and hence arguments last decade, the right of parents to use corporal and violence (Cubbins & Vannoy, 2005; Gondolf punishment was ended in 24 nations (Ending & Shestakov, 1997; Iliashenko, 2003a). Older Legalized Violence Against Children, n.d.). males are also more vulnerable in terms of income, In the 1980s, Baron and Straus introduced the employment, health, and alcohol consumption, cultural spillover theory, which argues that vio- especially during and after the transition period lent crime such as rape and homicide may be (McKee & Leon, 1994; Nevretdinova, 2000; influenced by the implicit or explicit approval of Pridemore & Kim, 2007; Shkolnikov et al., 2001). violence in various areas of life, such as corporal Another characteristic of homicide offenders punishment in the family and schools, the por- in Russia is their low educational status. Most of trayal of violence in mass media, and sports such those convicted of homicide in the Russian as boxing and football. This theory predicts a car- Federation in 1998 (67%) had completed only a ryover or diffusion from social contexts in which secondary education (10 years of regular school the use of violence is socially approved to social education), 17% a specialized secondary educa- contexts where the use of violence is considered tion, 13% had less than a secondary education, illegitimate or criminal (Baron & Straus, 1989). and only 2.8% finished a university degree Many studies provide evidence for a link between (Nevretdinova, 2000). This educational attain- legitimate violence and rape (Baron, Straus, & ment of the homicide offenders was very similar Jaffe, 1988; Hogben, Byrne, Hamburger, & to that in the Udmurt Republic: 35% had less Osland, 2001; Sanday, 1981) and homicide than a secondary education, 48% had a secondary (Archer & Gartner, 1984; Ember & Ember, 1994; education, 15% had a specialized secondary edu- Levinson, 1989). In their cross-national study of cation, and 3% had at least some college educa- homicide, for example, Archer and Gartner tion (Chervyakov et al., 2002). (1984: 94) suggested that wars tended to legiti- mate the general use of violence in domestic society via a message that killing another human Explanations being was, under certain circumstances, accept- able in the eyes of the nation’s leaders (1984: 94). The Civilizing Process and Cultural Ember and Ember found evidence of this in their Spillover Theory study and argued that “high rates of homicide and assault are inadvertent (unintended) conse- The extremely high homicide rate in the modern quences of more war: Once you learn to kill an Russia may be partly a consequence of the fact enemy, you may find it easier to hurt or kill any- that, historically, Russian homicide rates have one” (1994: 643). been comparatively high and lagged behind the Rates of legitimate violence in Russia are decreases that occurred in most European nations extremely high. Violence thrives and usually is (Stickley & Pridemore, 2007). not treated as a crime or even a problem in cases Norbert Elias and Manuel Eisner argue that of family violence against wives (Cubbins & there has been a century-long “civilizing process” Vannoy, 2005; Vannoy et al., 1999), children in that resulted in a major reduction in homicide the form of corporal punishment and abuse since the late middle ages (Eisner, 2003; Elias, (Lysova, 2009), and elders (Puchkov, 2005). 1978). One aspect of the civilizing process is a Violence against the male population of Russia decrease in the use of violence for socially legiti- by the police, in the army, and in Russia prisons mate purposes, such as trial by ordeal, torture to are other forms of common violence that, while obtain confessions, cruel forms of execution, and not legitimate, are accepted or committed by the right of husbands to use corporal punishment those with governmental authority. against wives. A recent major reduction in legiti- Russia has also been involved in a number of mate violence is the prohibition of capital pun- wars and violent conflicts with neighboring ishment in most Western nations, and during the countries during the last 100 years. During the 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 463 twentieth century, Russia participated in the deregulation of desires that is important in Russian-Japanese War (1904–1905) and World explaining heightened levels of violence but also War I (1914–1917), which was followed by the the redistribution or removal of opportunities October Revolution and a civil war (1917–1920). and the frustration and anger that ensues Beginning in the 1930s, Stalin’s repressions (Pridemore & Kim, 2007). directly touched more than 10% of the Russian An alternative explanation for the increasing population: countless people were executed and homicide rate in Russia relates to the economic sent to prisons, labor camps, and deported to dif- performance during the period of transition, ferent parts of the country (Oleinik, 2001). The especially high levels of poverty and unemploy- losses suffered by Russia during World War II, of ment (Andrienko, 2001; Pridemore & Kim, course, were monumental, and the war’s impact 2007). For example, Pridemore (2005) showed on the population cannot be overstated. Recent that poverty was positively associated with the conflicts include the war and ongoing unrest with cross-sectional variation in homicide victimiza- Chechnya, as well as skirmishes with Georgia. tion rates in Russia at the aggregate level, and Thus, according to the concept of civilizing Andrienko (2001) found poverty and low educa- process and cultural spillover theory, all these tion to be associated with regional homicide rates forms of unbridled legitimate violence in Russia in Russia. theoretically can directly condone criminal vio- One particular mechanism through which the lence in the form of interpersonal homicide. rapid changes in social structure lead to an increase in the homicide rate may be explained by the concept of social stress. Social stress is an Social Structure and Social Stress umbrella concept under which all psychosocial problems are placed (Godek, 1998). Studies show Pridemore and Kim (2007) explicitly tested the that economic and political practices under Soviet effect of the major force of the Russian transition rule, as well as after the collapse of the Soviet – socioeconomic and political change – as an Union during the transition period in the 1990s, explanation of the increase in the rates of led to high levels of social stress (Godek, 1998; interpersonal violence during the 1990s. They Shkolnikov et al., 2001; Watson, 1995). Some found that higher levels of negative socioeco- argue that while females in Russia have a better nomic change were positively and significantly arsenal of coping mechanisms that enable them associated with greater increases in regional to handle the existing stressors, males have homicide victimization rates. They gave to this a become less protected and more prone to despair Durkheimian interpretation according to which and stress (Watson, 1995). This jeopardized the rapid political, social, and economic change males’ traditional role in public life and as a weakened the former means of solidarity, which breadwinner, which might have led to increased lost its power to control individuals. At the same violence in the family (as a compensation mecha- time that a strong collective conscience and com- nism) and to alcohol abuse for relieving the stress, munitarian ideals were being replaced by the and hence further chances of violence. individual goals of freedom, autonomy, and eco- Since one-third of all Russian homicides are nomic opportunities, Russians started to consider committed within the family, it is worth mention- material success an important social value. ing that police non-intervention into family dis- Furthermore, the growing disjuncture between putes, high levels of alcohol consumption in the consumerist goals and the limited means of most home, and Russia’s chronic housing shortage Russians to reach those goals may help explain (e.g., when people cannot move and divorced the increase in and wide variation of crime couples continue to live in the same apartment) throughout the country (Merton, 1968). In the may also be serious risk factors for homicide case of Russia, then, it may not only be the (Ingram, 1999). 464 A.V. Lysova et al.

Alcohol Consumption severe than any previous criminal codes of and Alcohol-Related Homicide Russia, even during Stalin’s rule. Moreover, some kinds of probation and parole (deprivation of Multiple studies support the hypothesis that freedom with suspended sentence) have been homicide and alcohol are closely connected in excluded from the new criminal code (Gilinskiy, cultures where an intoxication-oriented drinking 2006). There has been a moratorium on the death pattern prevails, and several scholars suggest that penalty since 1998 (and there have been no death a binge drinking pattern is important in explain- sentences since then), although this has not been ing the high rate of homicide in Russia (Andrienko, ratified by the Russian parliament. In November 2001; Bye, 2008; Pridemore, 2005; Razvodovsky, 2009, the Constitutional Court of the Russian 2007). Pridemore (2002) found that Russian Federation finally and completely prohibited the provinces with higher levels of heavy drinking death penalty in Russia. Thus, life imprisonment had higher levels of homicide. This provincial- became the most severe type of punishment for level association is not new, however, as Stickley those convicted of homicide beginning January 1, and Pridemore (2007) used historical data from 2010. 1910 for western Russian provinces and found From 1997 to 2003, the number of those con- the same association. Pridemore and Chamlin victed of homicide and sentenced to life impris- (2006) used annual time series data between onment rose 6.5 times, from 177 people in 1997 1956 and 2002 for all of Russia and found a to 1,115 people by 2003 (Alexandrov, n.d.). significant positive association between heavy Almost all of them were convicted of aggravated drinking and homicide. Pridemore and Eckhardt homicide, including 33% who were convicted of (2008) employed data on homicide victim, homicide with a profit motive, 18% with cruelty, offender, and event characteristics in Russia and 12% with rape, and 12% who committed homi- found that alcohol-related homicides differed cide in group. The majority of offenders sen- from non–alcohol-related homicides on a number tenced to life in prison committed two or more of characteristics, including victim–offender homicides (Alexandrov, n.d.). relationship and motive. Further, though examin- ing non-lethal violent victimization, a recent study of Moscow residents found that men who Punishment Related to Homicide binge drink were more than twice as likely than and Violence in Belarus and Ukraine those who did not to have been a victim of violence (Stickley & Pridemore, 2010). The most severe violent crimes, including homi- cide and intentional grievous bodily harm with aggravated circumstances, may still be punished Punishing Homicide by the death penalty in Belarus. However, since 1997, life imprisonment may be applied as an The imprisonment rate in Russia is one of the alternative punishment to the death penalty. highest in the world, with a rate of 629 prisoners Moreover, capital punishment may not be used per 100,000 residents in 2008 (Walmsley, 2009). against offenders who were under 18 years old at Nearly 20% of all people spending time in prison the time of the event, females, and males after 65 in Russia have been convicted of homicide and years old. After the introduction of the new grievous bodily harm (Andrienko, 2001). The Criminal Code in Belarus in 1999, with life current punishment system for homicide in imprisonment as an alternative to death penalty, Russia stipulates the following types of criminal the number of death sentences dropped from 47 punishment: the death penalty (article 59 of the in 1998 to 2 in 2009 (Samoseiko, 2010). Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 1996), Moreover, the number of crimes subjected to life imprisonment (art. 57), and deprivation of the articles of Criminal Code for which it is pos- freedom (art. 56). The 1996 criminal code is more sible to use capital punishment also went down. 29 Homicide in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus 465

For example, the total number of all sentences to a lesser extent Belarus, these nations may serve (including possibility of death penalty) for inten- as natural experiments for testing various socio- tional homicide (Article 139 of the Criminal logical theories, especially those related to ano- Code of Belarus) was 474 in 2001, 390 in 2007, mie, as potential explanations for the increase in 270 in 2008, and 241 in 2009 (Samoseiko). The homicide rates. number of those sentenced to life in prison has This chapter also addressed the ongoing prob- also decreased in recent years, from 20 people in lem of the lack of reliable and transparent homi- 2002 to 5 in 2009. Currently, 142 convicted cide reporting systems in these countries, which offenders in Belarus are spending their life in raises serious concerns about the validity of offi- prison, though it is possible, they may get out in cial homicide statistics. We provided available 25 years (Samoseiko). data on police-recorded homicides and data on Life in prison is the most severe form of pun- homicide estimates from vital statistics for the ishment in Ukraine since 2001. Today 1,553 last half of the twentieth century in Russia and Ukrainian offenders are spending their life in confirmed previous findings showing higher prison. While there is also the chance that their homicide estimates from the latter. sentences will be commuted to less than life in The most intriguing question for crimino- prison, the minimum they must spend in prison is logists and sociologists is what reasons are behind 38 years (Silaeva, 2009). the extremely high homicide rates in these post- Soviet countries, especially Russia, compared to other industrialized European countries and even Conclusion the United States. We outlined several possible factors, including the civilizing process, the cul- Post-Soviet countries such as Russia, Ukraine, tural spillover effect, social structure and stress and Belarus deserve special attention when con- during the transition, and alcohol consumption. sidering homicide in Europe. The social, eco- Elements of social disorganization, including nomic, and political turmoil experienced by many structural factors like poverty and family insta- former Soviet countries in the post-Soviet period bility, and individual-level factors such as educa- was accompanied by a sharp rise in all-cause tion and marriage have been found to be associated mortality, in particular deaths from homicide. with homicide in Russia. The failure of homicide Even though Ukrainian and Belorussian homi- rates to decrease as drastically as they increased, cide rates are lower than in Russia, they are still even though political and economic stability is very high relative to other countries in the now much greater than in the mid-1990s, might European region. Further, while these rates have be attributed to the lagged effects of the transi- been extremely high in recent years due to vari- tion, including serious disruption to key social ous factors associated with the collapse of the institutions like the family, education, and the Soviet Union, Russian homicide rates have been economy, and because those adolescents who higher historically than in other European were most negatively affected by the transition nations. are now adults. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus share homicide While punishment related to homicide and characteristics that are distinct relative to other violence in Belarus and Ukraine is becoming less European nations. These include the low propor- harsh and more humane (e.g., less lengthy prison tion of homicides committed by firearms, higher terms, reluctance to use the death penalty in homicide rates in rural relative to urban areas, Belarus and its substitution with life imprison- vast regional differences in homicide rates, and ment), Russia’s punishment path has remained the significant role of alcohol in homicide offend- the same, and perhaps even become more puni- ing and victimization. Moreover, due to the tive, and Russia’s imprisonment rate remains sweeping scale of socioeconomic and political among the world’s highest (along with the United changes in the 1990s in Russia and Ukraine, and States). 466 A.V. Lysova et al.

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